AUBURN — The consultants behind a recent study on sports tourism in Auburn told officials Monday that creating a dedicated tourism office is “direly needed.”

Finding the money to establish and staff it, however, raised eyebrows among councilors. 

The recommendation was one of a number made by Arizona-based consultant Huddle Up Group, which recently completed a study on how Auburn can grow its brand as a regional hub for hosting sports tournaments and other annual events.

The results of the study laid out Auburn’s strengths and weaknesses. While the city has some standout facilities to host events, there are no staff members dedicated solely to creating more events and helping to promote existing ones, the consultants said. 

Jon Schmieder, a representative from Huddle Up, told the City Council during a 20-minute workshop that developing Auburn’s “tourism infrastructure” should be the first goal. He said the recommendations of setting aside funding, hiring staff, and creating partnerships and events should be the key takeaways for officials. 

Schmieder said the city doesn’t have staff to help grow local events, which in turn can “fill more hotel rooms.” He said with more events, even drawing more day trips to Auburn is economic development. 

Huddle Up proposed the city use tax increment financing dollars to pay for the tourism office. The report estimates that implementing its “primary recommendations,” which include two dedicated staffers, would cost between $138,500 and $192,000. 

But with the majority of councilors wary of limited resources, Auburn Mayor Jason Levesque made it clear that he’d like the tourism push to be a regional effort.

In attendance Monday were Lewiston Mayor Shane Bouchard and Beckie Conrad, president of the Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, who both  spoke following the Huddle Up presentation. 

“It’s time for us, and our partners in Lewiston and at the chamber to think about how they want to handle tourism,” Levesque said. “Partnerships are critical.” 

Going off a recommendation made in the report, Levesque said he will pursue the creation of an advisory board made up of area stakeholders, such as the general managers of many of Auburn’s sports facilities. He said that way, the city can “keep the dialogue going” before making any financial decisions. 

There was a consensus by city councilors that they didn’t want to rush into funding a tourism office using TIF funds. 

Councilor Bob Hayes said the partnership discussions should take place before allocating funding.

“It’s beyond sports tourism,” he said, adding that Auburn, along with Lewiston, needs to gather “all players together” to “strategize as a community.”

“Tourism is a huge discussion,” Councilor Andrew Titus said. The city needs to do more research without hiring people, he said.

Councilor Belinda Gerry said Auburn needs to find a few “baby steps” to take, and collaborating with Lewiston could be the key. 

The discussion raised many of the same economic development questions that have been debated in the past in Lewiston and Auburn.

Differences in philosophy led to Auburn pulling its funding from the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council in 2016, and the question of how the two cities should market themselves was central to the merger debate earlier this year. 

During the workshop, Bouchard said he wished he had been presented with a study on tourism while a councilor in Lewiston. He said he wished the two cities had done the study jointly, adding that the two cities should discuss it during their first joint City Council meeting. 

Conrad said the chamber was “absolutely ready to be in a partnership” for tourism. She said the chamber is also in the process of acquiring the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council.

“We’re on the same path,” she said, but added, ultimately it’s a “funding issue. We do know there’s a price tag around this type of work.”  

Most of the cities that Huddle Up works with rely on a combination of hosting their own unique events while also bidding on bringing in others. Schmieder said he envisions Auburn being able to create a strong set of its own local events that bring people in, whether it be hockey tournaments or annual skiing events at Lost Valley. 

“You build enough events that you don’t have to bid on others,” he said. “It will take a few years to get there, but you’re on the right path.”

Along with city staff, the Huddle Up Group recently toured Auburn’s facilities and venues and conducted interviews. Funding for the $31,000 study was included in this year’s capital improvement plan.

While Huddle Up said the tourism office is important, the study also says creating partnerships, and making it a “regional effort” are also important. He said many of the cities they work with are small- to mid-market communities. 

In the future, Schmieder said, Auburn will have to look at expanding its venue opportunities if it wants to contend with other regional markets. He said the city should be involved in the conversation on the new Edward Little High School and what its facilities will be. 

He also added that the Maine Principals’ Association declined to meet with them for the study. 

City Manager Peter Crichton, who wasn’t at the workshop Monday, has said he sees the study as “an exciting initiative and a tremendous opportunity.”

He spearheaded the study after only being on the job for a few months.

“Huddle Up has done a great job of identifying the many assets that we have in Auburn, as well as Lewiston and the region. Now it is up to us to decide how we want to proceed,” he said. 

arice@sunjournal.com 

Scarborough plays Mt. Ararat in a girls’ hockey round-robin game in October 2013 at the Norway Savings Bank Arena in Auburn. A sports tourism consultant unveiled its study results to the Auburn City Council on Monday. (Sun Journal file photo)